Building Permits Rise Slightly in April
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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowThe Builders Association of Greater Indianapolis says single-family building permits in central Indiana rose 3 percent in April. BAGI says 561 permits were issued last month in the nine-county region, compared with 546 permits during the same month last year.
The organization says 1,871 permits have been issued year-to-date, which is a 2 percent increase over the same period in 2016. The National Association of Home Builders says builder confidence has risen two points as well.
"It is because of the growing builder confidence and the current optimism in the market that we are seeing rising numbers month-over-month," says Steve Lains, chief executive officer of BAGI. "Those positive indicators offset the fact that labor and lot shortages continue to plague the industry and government overreach is making it difficult for builders to keep up with the demand of affordably priced homes. If those constraints didn’t exist, I believe we’d be seeing permit numbers spiking upward both locally and nationally."
Four of the nine counties saw increases in building permits. Morgan County led the way with a 100 percent increase over the same month in 2016. Madison County saw the biggest drop with a 90 percent decrease from the previous year.
You can view the figures from April and for all of 2017 in the chart below: